Professor Dr Puteri Shafinaz Abdul Rahman received her tertiary education at the University of Malaya and was awarded a prestigious Split-Site Doctoral Scholarship by the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Commission (United Kingdom) to pursue her PhD in Proteomics jointly at Nottingham Trent University and the University of Malaya. She completed her PhD in 2007 and subsequently joined the Department of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, where she now serves as the Head of Department. She is also a founding member and current Director of the Universiti Malaya Centre for Proteomic Research (UMCPR).

Across her academic career, Dr Puteri has secured more than RM 14.5 million in research funding as Principal Investigator and in collaborative roles. She has supervised 8 Master's and 8 PhD candidates to completion, and she currently mentors 7 PhD and 3 Master's students. She previously led the Unit for Central Research Laboratories, which is the Faculty of Medicine’s designated facility for state-of-the-art proteomics, genomics, and analytical research infrastructure for 15 years (2008–2023). She has also held several administrative appointments under the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) portfolio, including Deputy Dean of the Innovative Technology Research Cluster (2015–2018), Deputy Dean of the Frontiers of the Natural World Research Cluster (2019–2021), and Coordinator of the Research Project Monitoring Section at the Research Management Centre, Universiti Malaya (2022–2024). In addition to her university leadership roles, Dr Puteri serves as a Board Director of the Malaysian Lactation Educators & Support Association (MyLESA), where she contributes to national efforts in advancing breastfeeding education, maternal–infant health advocacy, and evidence-based lactation support. 

As a molecular biologist and proteomic scientist, Dr Puteri’s primary expertise lies in comparative proteomics. Her research group utilises mass spectrometry–based platforms to interrogate protein expression patterns across biological states, enabling the identification of dysregulated proteins and molecular pathways in cancers such as gynaecological malignancies, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and bone tumours. Her work in cancer proteomics was recognised with the Merck Young Scientist Award (First Prize) in 2008.

Her research portfolio also encompasses natural products and herbal medicine, where proteomics is applied to elucidate the mechanisms underlying bioactive compounds with anticancer, antimicrobial, or immunomodulatory potential. Over the last decade, her work has extended into the molecular characterisation of human milk—particularly proteins associated with the milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) and soluble fraction—across human, bovine, and caprine species.

Her current research examines the proteome, metabolome, and circadian biology of human milk from early lactation through 24 months postpartum, with a particular interest in how maternal metabolic conditions, including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), influence milk composition. Central to this body of work is the emerging conceptualisation of breast milk as a biologically intelligent system- a dynamic, adaptive fluid shaped by evolution, developmental timing, and maternal physiology. Dr Puteri’s studies aim to unravel how bioactive milk constituents modulate infant immune protection, metabolic programming, and neurodevelopment, and how milk may undergo functional reprogramming or adaptive prioritisation under maternal metabolic stress.